Radiator fan + PWR Radiator

[DaemoN]

I put in my PWR Radiator from 935 Motorsports last week, and I pop my hood tonight to discover 2 fan blades broken off on my '87 turbo. I know how much thicker it is over the stock unit, and I had it sitting flush against the radiator support. The fan and fan shroud were purchased new from Toyota at the end of 2005, beginning of 2006. When I installed the unit I used all new hardware and the shroud was mounted securely to the radiator with almost no play. Even now, there is no real play to the shroud, it's secure against the radiator.

What else would cause the fan to come in contact with the shroud? From what I could see tonight the radiator suffered no real damage from the disaster, one spot has a small dent but is not leaking whatsoever. It's just a little aggravating having to buy a new fan and shroud and put it all back together.

 

[starscream5000]

Fan shroud too close to the fan blades on one side, reving the engine, or putting lots of load on it, causing the engine to flex due to the stock, rubber motor mounts....?

 

[mkIIIman089]

To start, I'm impressed that you went to such lengths when you installed it to make sure this didn't happen.

Was the fan loose on the clutch? Was the clutch tight up against the water pump? I see you've got an 87, which makes this less likely, but maybe check out your motor mounts and see if they are ripped apart or not.

 

[IJ.]

My "guess" broken engine mount or Fan clutch.

I run the same combination and it's no where near the Rad.

 

[mkIIIman089]

I used to run the same combo as well (old parts) and it worked fine too.

 

[DaemoN]

To start, I'm impressed that you went to such lengths when you installed it to make sure this didn't happen.

I wouldn't call that great lengths, I put new hardware on everything I remove. The rest of what I did is a normal part of installing a radiator.

I'll be checking the car out again when I get home from work and see if I can figure anything out. Thanks guys.

 

[BJ91T]

I had the same problem a few days ago my shroud was killed by the fan when the car hit 4000-4500 RPM Broken MM I assume??

 

[DaemoN]

My "guess" broken engine mount or Fan clutch.

I run the same combination and it's no where near the Rad.

Fan clutch looks/feels fine, i'll have to check the mounts. Does your PWR have the lower screw hole for the auxiliary fan? Mine didn't have it, only the two uppers.

Do you have any pictures of how your radiator mounts? I'd like to see on yours looking into where the fan goes into the shroud, on the backside of it. Same with a shot of how it sits against the radiator support, I looked in your build thread and didn't see any of this detail. Thanks IJ.

 

[Justin727]

I'm with IJ. The fan doesnt come close to my PWR and fan shroud. You sir do have a broken mount

 

[IJ.]

Daemon: Sounds like you have the "Pre IJ PWR" rad
(I helped redesign it)

If you look at the Turbo side Shroud mount you'll see it kicks the shroud out on an angle and the lower shroud mounts are missing.

Not sure if this contributes but it could very well be the cause.

Just dug through all my old pics and sorry I don't have any thing showing the rad.

 

[DaemoN]

Daemon: Sounds like you have the "Pre IJ PWR" rad
(I helped redesign it)

If you look at the Turbo side Shroud mount you'll see it kicks the shroud out on an angle and the lower shroud mounts are missing.

Not sure if this contributes but it could very well be the cause.

Just dug through all my old pics and sorry I don't have any thing showing the rad.

An old version? I just bought this 3 weeks ago :nono:
Thanks for your help IJ!

 

[DaemoN]

I'm with IJ. The fan doesnt come close to my PWR and fan shroud. You sir do have a broken mount

Would you mind snapping a few pictures of your radiator? I want to see how it sits against the radiator support, how close the fan looks to the inside of the shroud etc.

And are you able to install/remove your radiator with the shroud attached?

 

[Poodles]

my koyo and my stocker could be installed with the shroud attached (remove the lower piece of the shroud like you're supposed to)

I'm unsure on the PWR, but on the koyo the lower mounts had to be trimmed to drop the radiaor down low enough.

Where did it hit on the shroud? There should be scuff marks...

 

[IJ.]

Mine comes out with the shround attached (only just)

 

[bigaaron]

IIRC, it's too close at the upper edge of the big round hole in the shroud, right at the bottom of the upper tank on the radiator.

 

[DaemoN]

IIRC, it's too close at the upper edge of the big round hole in the shroud, right at the bottom of the upper tank on the radiator.

Precisely. I can see where it rubbed a bit there.

 

[bigaaron]

And from what I've seen it's not only a problem on cars that have broken motor mounts.

 

[IJ.]

Did you check the shroud mounts to see if it's mounting flat on the Rad or at an angle?

 

[suprabad]

You sir do have a broken mount

You'd think he'd feel it clunking around.

Every time I ever broke one you couldn't miss it, 'cause of the thud of the engine lifting up and down on the mount when you accelerate or decelerate.

 

[starscream5000]

Like I was saying, the engine flexes with stock motor mounts, he has the beefy pre '89 ones too, but the engine will still move around when revved. Being close at the top like Aaron said and the engine moving some may have caused it to do exactly what it did...